


Someone New

by campnou



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 03:07:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21047279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/campnou/pseuds/campnou
Summary: Nathan is leading a completely different life than what could’ve been. At eighteen years old he finds himself in Japan, figuring out his past and present self.





	Someone New

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! This is a work in progress (of course) so constructive criticism is appreciated. :) Read tags of you don't mind spoilers.

Nathan’s heart was pumping uncomfortably in his throat as he wiped sweat off his hands. The beautiful spring day didn’t match his mood. There was no wind, just gentle sunshine. A perfect day for a family trip, he thought.

Nathan was heading towards a beautiful bridge where his biological family would be waiting for him. Everything was planned by his sister, whose existence Nathan had been aware of for less than a month.

His parents had left him when he was an infant. Nathan had forced nonchalance over this fact about his life. His parents in the US had always given him an impression that meeting them would be impossible.

The Japanese city he was visiting something between small and large. A group of primary school kids passed him, revealing three figures behind them.

His family that wasn’t his family.

Mrs. Chen closed their distance. She squeezed him in a painful hug, babbling in Chinese. Nathan felt extremely awkward.

This tiny woman was simultaneously a stranger and the person who birthed him. To make things worse she started crying.

Nathan couldn’t really retaliate any of those feelings. He felt almost empty, no connection to what was happening around him.

He felt like he was watching another person’s dream, too far away to experience it.

His younger sister remarked something to their mother. She looked a little fierce and had a completely different aura than Nathan. His first thought was that she could fit in a gang.

“Hello”, she said in broken English. “I Xiaosheng.”

Nathan smiled at her, “It’s great to meet you.“ Xiaosheng looked puzzled and fished out her mobile phone.

“Write”, she said, pointing to her phone. Nathan typed what he had said while his father approached him awkwardly. The first time Nathan had seen his family’s pictures he could immediately recognize who he had gotten his looks from. His father was just like him, only twenty-five years older and sporting glasses.

Nathan gave back the phone to his sister and hoped the translation wasn’t anything else than “Nice to meet you”.

Mr. Chen half hugged him, patting him on the back.

His mother kept talking to him in Chinese and he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to nod or acknowledge it in some way. He settled at smiling at her. She started motioning her hands, telling him to follow. So they walked.

Nathan wrote how old are you sister in Google translate and a cheerful voice repeated it in Mandarin. Xiaosheng held up a finger.

“One – five”, she said but held up six fingers.

“Sixteen”, he said and Xiaosheng was busy fiddling with her phone again.

The knowledge made Nathan’s chest tighten. She was only two years younger than him yet somehow their parents had kept her but not him.

They arrived to an old building with five floors. It was probably a cheap rental building but had a nice character to it. A couple of bell flowers were growing between the tiles. He followed behind the Chen family to the highest floor.

When they walked in Nathan felt even worse than before. He didn’t feel distant from reality anymore, and that made him want to run away.

There was no way he could have a basic conversation with his family. Nathan knew it wasn’t a mistake to come but it didn’t make it any easier.

His biological mom and sister were arguing in Chinese, Mrs. Chen seeming to have the upper hand. It looked like she was telling her to go somewhere.

Xiaosheng face was reddening which made Nathan raise his eyebrows. It didn’t seem characteristic of her to blush. Mrs. Chen pushed her out of the apartment.

After a moment he heard a distant knock from the hallway. A man’s voice carried over, speaking in what sounded like a mix of Chinese and Japanese.

A slim figure entered the apartment behind Xiaosheng. He had pleasant features and long hair. The young man smiled when he spotted Nathan, who had made himself tiny sitting on a sofa.

The man bowed and Nathan nodded stiffly. He worried that he looked like a rude foreigner and tried to arrange his face to a smile.

“Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Hanyu Yuzuru, next door neighbor of your family.”

He was speaking English, slowly but confidently. And apparently he spoke Chinese too. The heavy dread Nathan had felt in his throat and stomach eased a little. Yuzuru seemed trustworthy, possibly someone Nathan could hide behind.

“Nathan Brown…” He had extended his hand but Mrs. Chen had swarmed around Yuzuru, speaking animatedly to him.

The guy looked uneasy but Yuzuru nodded and turned to him.

“I love you, son. I’ve missed you every day. Seeing you healthy means the world to me.”

It took Nathan approximately two seconds to realize Yuzuru was translating Mrs. Chen’s words but he had to bite the inside of his cheek to avoid grinning.

“Xièxie”, was all he could manage.

His mother leaned over to Yuzuru again.

“She requests for you to ask anything that’s on your mind.”

That made Nathan pause for a moment.

“Could you ask if there are any inheritable diseases in our family?”

Yuzuru had to use a translator for the word inheritable from English to Japanese to Chinese. When he asked her, he could see Mrs. Chen’s face fall slightly. Either they had horrible genes or the question had disappointed her.

“No, this family line has always been strong and healthy despite being poor. Poor vision is common. Dementia is possible in old age.”

Nathan nodded. Mrs. Chen started speaking with pain in her voice, looking straight at him. Nathan wanted to run again. Yuzuru cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry more than you can imagine. A million apologies will not be enough. Your dad and I are so sorry.”

Nathan looked at the floor intently. He hadn’t felt betrayed growing up but sitting there with his parents made him wonder if he should feel exactly that.

Mr. Chen started speaking lengthily, possibly explaining the reasons they had left him.

Nathan held up his palm without looking at them. He felt embarrassed for not being stronger and hoped he wasn’t being impolite. Yuzuru did not start translating. Maybe he was a godsend.

“Hey”, Yuzuru had walked closer and bended his back. “If need time I can tell them. I think I need Chinese lessons anyway to explain this.”

Nathan just nodded. All zest had left his body.

Yuzuru spoke to his parents and they didn’t look very happy. Nathan could see Yuzuru taking a firm stance, seemingly not leaving any space for negotiation.

After a moment Nathan could see his parents giving in.

“You see each other next day”, Yuzuru announced.

“But where can I go?”

“You come with me, of course.”

Nathan felt shy but wasn’t going to say no to the offer. He couldn’t stay with his family 24/7 at least at this point.

Yuzuru was bowing to his family members, Xiaosheng bowing back too enthusiastically.

Nathan’s mom came to hug him at the doorway before they left. This time Nathan managed to pat her on the shoulder.

Nathan fell into step with Yuzuru. He felt alarmingly comfortable around the guy despite knowing him for a whole ten minutes.

Yuzuru smiled at him. “This is our… flat?”

Nathan didn’t now if the our meant him and his roommate, him and his pet or the two of them. He decided not to ask.  
“Thank yo-“

Nathan was shocked to see that the apartment’s walls were covered in artwork. Even though Nathan didn’t have expertise in art he could tell they were skillfully crafted.

“You are an artist”, it was meant to be a question but came off as a statement.

“Trying to be”, Yuzuru dismissed.

“No. I think you are one.” Nathan’s fingers ghosted over a textured abstract painting.

“I go to art school but school is killing my art”, Yuzuru said dramatically. Nathan slightly doubted that from seeing how every wall was covered in paintings. There were two easels with unfinished projects on them.

Nathan didn’t realize he was still wearing his huge backpack until Yuzuru grabbed it and took it off his shoulders. Nathan mouthed a thank you and Yuzu smiled in a way that made his eyes crinkle into two happy lines.

What a strange and expressive face he had.

It didn’t take long until there was a series of knocks on the door. Yuzu opened the door to Xiaosheng who had changed her attire and was holding boxes of food.

Nathan had to stifle a laugh when he thought about the stark difference between the girl around Yuzuru and without him. She had transformed to prim and proper in a blink of an eye.

Xiaosheng and Yuzuru were bowing at each other excessively again. As far as Nathan knew Chinese people didn’t bow. He really was ignorant in this environment.

Even though Nathan was positive they were switching between Japanese and Chinese, some moments he couldn’t tell which one was spoken. Yuzuru looked at him and Xiaosheng looked away.

“She wants you know how happy she is to meet her brother. She has known about you ever since she could understand the meaning of brother.”

Nathan didn’t know why that made his eyes sting a little. Xiaosheng said something that made Yuzuru laugh which in turn made Xiaosheng red in the face.

Nathan was thankful for the lighthearted crush of his sister making him forget his issues. Xiaosheng left, after bowing twice.

“I think Xiaosheng has a thing for you.”

“Thing? She has item for me?”

“Nah, never mind… “

Yuzuru’s eyebrows were knitted together as if he was trying to solve an equation.

His eyes landed on Nathan’s feet.

“Ahh, a savage!”

Yuzuru pushed him to sit on a kitchen chair while he hastily removed his shoes. Nathan could hear “so it is true.. “ and “Americans” mumbled under his breath. Nathan truly was feeling better even if he was still exhausted.

“Your feet must be smelly… and floors dirty. I heard worse, heard you don’t wash yourselves after toilet.“

Yuzuru shivered exaggeratedly and Nathan let out a surprised laughter. He didn’t really expect this playful and straightforward side of Yuzuru but didn’t mind it.

“It’s true, we lack manners and basic hygiene.”

“I feel bad for your feet, have been trapped all life.”

It was probably true that walking without shoes was healthier but that was how he had been dressed since infancy.

Yuzuru sat on the floor, taking Nathan’s feet in his hands. He felt some heat on his ears but was determined not to turn into Xiaosheng. While the Japanese squeezed the soles of his feet, Yuzu looked up, suddenly serious.

“I know you’ve had a long day. I really commend you for dealing with this. Such a young guy and so mature.”

Nathan noted that Yuzuru’s vocabulary was amazing. It was just the accent that had made him underestimate him a bit at first.  
“How old are you to call me mature for my age?”

“Just turned twenty-one”, Yuzuru poked his shin with his elbow.

“Then why do you have such a baby face?”

“I can kick you out of my flat any moment.”

They started eating the food that Xiaosheng had delivered. The silence was comfortable and Nathan was grateful. Yuzuru tied his shoulder-length hair to a bun. Suddenly Nathan didn’t feel like laughing at his sister so much. The man was actually stunning.

Yuzuru thanked him as if he had prepared the meal and Nathan answered him with a hmmph. He was answered with a grin.

Yuzuru guided him to a futon mattress for quests. Nathan thanked him profusely because he really loved his sleep. He was ready to get rid of his jetlag.

“Just let me know if you need anything”, Yuzuru said, handing him multiple pillows and Nathan flopped down on the mattress.

There was a painting of a blonde man with his torso naked above him. It was made with a technique Nathan didn’t know the name of, translucent layers upon layers. When he looked around the room he could also see a couple of paintings of ladies in their birthday suits.

What high quality porn, Nathan thought to himself before falling asleep.


End file.
